Extract

The concept of fossil Lagerstätten (Seilacher 1970) has changed our attitude and approach to fossiliferous sites from that, essentially of the collector, to a geologically based evaluation leading to an understanding of the environmental conditions pertaining, and hence to predicting sites elsewhere and at other times (see, for example Wade 1970; Collins et al. 1983). Fossil Lagerstätten, particularly those of the conservation type (deposited under anoxic conditions and by smothering) emphasized here by Professor Seilacher, owe their origin to the combination of a number of factors as Seilacher (1970) explained. These may be considered as: (i) the extrinsic factors relating to the tectonic-sedimentary setting, and the physical and chemical factors (for example, turbulence and water chemistry), and, (ii) intrinsic factors directly related to the morphology and ecology of the organisms. Both sets show change over the Phanerozoic (presumably with the exception of gravity).

Footnotes

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